Charles Neblett

Charles "Chuck" Neblett (born 1941) is a civil rights activist best known for helping to found and being a member of The Freedom Singers.

Neblett hails from Cairo, Illinois. He took an interest in the Civil Rights Movement from a young age. His first awareness of the Movement was noticing that the schools he and his fellow African Americans attended received inferior funding to white schools. When Emmett Till was murdered in 1955, the news profoundly affected Neblett. It was in light of this tragedy that he realized as a black American he "had no rights that white people would respect." He was the same age as Till at the time: fourteen. He knew then that he had to be a part of the Movement. "It was like I got religion." Neblett said. Neblett attended Southern Illinois University. There he had his first chances to be involved in fighting for Civil Rights when he was recruited by the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). He met with success when he protested the discrimination in housing at the university. He took his complaints to the University President, and the President made changes the very next semester. Neblett said it was after this "I realized we could make a difference."

The Freedom Singers were a creation of SNCC, and the group's goals were the same as its parent organization's. They were formed in Albany, Georgia two years after SNCC, in 1962, with four original members. Neblett sang bass, performing with soprano Rutha Mae Harris, alto Bernice Johnson (now Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon), and tenor Cordell Reagon. The first tour was planned by SNCC and lasted from December 1962 to August 1963. The group's schedule was a busy one, and they sometimes sang as many as three concerts a day. Their venues included parties, churches, protest marches, universities, and even jails all over the nation. The Freedom Singers were valuable to SNCC as one of their most successful fundraisers, but being a member was not always safe. Even in the north they sometimes ran into violent opposition, including Klan demonstrations during concerts.

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